Valpo 72, Huskies 71

A couple of weeks ago, my roommate and I were idly discussing Husky basketball, when he stopped me midsentence and asked: "What if the Husky season came down to free throws?"

We both sort-of gulped--it was too chilling a thought to consider.

Of course, we were thinking about the "season" being the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament, or the NIT, not some third-rate basketball tournament at a half-full Hec Ed.

But the season--such as it was--did end up coming down to free throws. The Huskies had the ball down one, fed a pass to Jon Brockman, who got fouled. I was on press row for the first time and, even there, you saw laughter. Of course--of course, the season would come down to free throws. And, of course, Brockman missed them both, making the Huskies 11-24 on free throws for the game--below even their awful, worst in the nation, 59% average.

So, one thing I learned tonight that I did not know is that the CBI is scripted.

Here are seven other things I learned that I did not know:

1) One player can have more hair than his entire team combined.
Urule Igbavboa of Vandy, seen here with a massive 'fro, has an even bigger 'fro now--at one point, he had more hair than the other nine guys on the court.

2) Before games, to pump himself up, Jon Brockman likes to make a "lassoing" motion.
The Hec Ed jumbotron showed the Dawgs pre-run-onto-court ritual, and it included Brockman pulling a "lassoing" move that wouldn't look out of place on the dance floor at Neighbors.

3) Knee injuries hurt.
I sort of already knew this, but it was brought home early in the game, when Artem Wallace went toward the basket to help on defense, screamed in agony and crumbled to the ground grabbing his knee. Wallace was breathing heavily, and looked to be in great pain. He was taken immediately to the locker room--couldn't put any weight at all on his foot. My friend texted me to say that he heard Wallace's scream over the radio

4) Players do actually dive on the floor for basketballs in the CBI.
We must preserve the videotape, because future generations will not believe us, but I actually saw Quincy Pondexter dive for a loose ball in the CBI.

5) KJR's Dave "Softy" Mahler's love for the Huskies can cloud his judgment.
During the first half Justin Dentmon picked up his dribble, then passed the ball to Brockman. But Brockman did not see the pass, and it just bounced in space, and Dentmon went and got it. He was rightfully called for traveling, at which moment Dave "Softy" Mahler rose from his seat ten rows behind the basket and berated the ref: "How can you be traveling if you don't have the ball?" he yelled. See above...that's how. We've all been there, though, right? I remember this one key pennant race Mets game, where the Mets hit a ball hit down the line, and the ump called it foul. And I went apeshit watching on TV (I was a Mets season ticket holder at the time) and the 3rd base coach went COMPLETELY apeshit, and got thrown out, and only then did they show the replay, and the ball was clearly foul...whoops!

6) There really is a Highlander named Macleod.
Valpo put the melliflously-name Calum MacLeod into the game in the first half. They were having a little trouble with Brockman's bulk, so they put in the 7-1, 245 lb. New Zealander. But Brockman was too fast for him. He played just two minutes and never returned.

7) The Husky band has precedence over the PA announcer.
The PA guy started to give some promo about Worldtek Travel Managemnt, the official travel sponsor of CBI, but he apparently was on the wrong cue. Music started, and so he just stopped in the middle of his little promo...MUSIC TRIUMPHS OVER COMMERCE!!!

So the Husky season ends--frustrating as it was last year. Not just because the team just couldn't be consistent, but also because this is obviously such a superior team to the Pac-10 bottomdwelling Husky teams of the late Bob Bender era--and yet, because the Pac-10 itself is so much better, this team actually finished under .500.